Hogwart's Witch from the West
by niens07
Summary: Saria is a witch from the United States who has come to stay at Hogwart's as an exchange student in her sixth year, against her will. But what the students don't know is that she has a secret of her very own.


It never made sense to Saria why she needed to know about the history of muggles. She was one after all. She sighed and rolled her eyes as the monotone voice of her teacher droned on for the tenth time about the importance of kitchen utensils to their way of life. She already knew that blenders and toaster ovens made life much easier for them. She had one of each in her own home.

She blew a strand of her long dark hair out of her eyes. Not much use though; she didn't really care much for seeing the board in front of her. She glanced to her left when she heard one of her fellow students snoring. How did the teacher not realize how boring he was? Saria smirked.

Just then, the teacher stopped talking, which brought everyone's attention back to the front. It must have meant it was time to leave. And indeed, it was. Saria gathered her books and slipped them into her bag. Just then. student was walking by her with a stack of books, and they toppled over. Right onto Saria and her desk. She jumped to her feet and scowled at the girl who was frantically picking up her books.

"I'm so sorry…" the girl was saying. Her face was hidden by a lot of bushy brown hair as she bent down to collect what had fallen. Saria sighed. Her frustration should not be taken out on someone like her. Better save it for the kids in her own house, which ever it was going to be. She rolled her eyes and bent down to help the girl.

"Here." Saria said, handing over the books she had picked up. The girl looked up from the floor with a look of surprise and slight embarrassment written on her face. Again, Saria sighed. It just wasn't her day today. She held out a hand to help the girl up.

"Thank you so much. And I am terribly sorry about dropping those onto you…" the girl said. Saria held up her hand. Groveling was not something Saria appreciated.

"Don't worry about it." she said. She forced a small smile and then turned to leave. But before she was able to leave the room, the girl with the books had caught up to her.

"I don't want to sound nosy, but I do not recall seeing you around the school…well…ever really. You must be new?" the girl asked, looking up at Saria earnestly. Saria's insides twitched. Had she just picked up someone who was going to be a nuisance like gum on her shoe? She looked down and rolled her eyes. But she picked her head back up and pasted an obviously fake smile on her face.

"Yes I am new here, thank you for noticing." she said, in a subtle mocking sort of voice. The girl, however, did not seem to take the hint.

"I had thought so. But…you are not wearing the usual dress of the school here…are you just visiting?"

Saria clenched her fists, trying to suppress the urge to sock this girl in the face. It was not a good time to be bothering her, and if something happened…well…Saria told herself she was not liable for anything or responsible for her actions. She forced herself to calm down quickly and realized that this girl didn't know the touchiness of this subject.

"No. I am not visiting. I was just…transferred here," she said, forcing it out with as little obvious strain as possible. The girl's face brightened.

"Oh my! There hasn't been a transfer to Hogwarts in almost a century!" she said, now completely focused on their conversation. Saria looked at her feet, mentally kicking herself for saying so. She then realized that this girl was going to continue to press the subject. But Saria was good at hiding her thoughts and feelings. After where she came from, it paid to be as unreadable as she was.

"Yeah well…" she started, but then didn't really know what to say. They came to the staircase in the main entrance of the school as they were headed towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"I think it is wonderful!" the girl chimed in happily, making Saria feel very uncomfortable. "Where are you from?"

Saria figured this was harmless enough. She was not going to by any means let this girl into her real life, but she didn't see any problem in giving her a vague idea. After all, why would a witch like her waste time on someone like her? What reason did she have for caring?

"I am from the United States."

The girl's face lit up with excitement again. "I have never met anyone from there! Oh this is truly a wonderful day! What is it like there?"

"Umm…" she started as they walked into the Great Hall. But she was grateful they had arrived there because now she could evade the girl. Where she was going to go to evade her, Saria didn't quite know yet. "Hey, I need to head over this way," she said indicating the direction of the Ravenclaw table. She knew it was a lie, because she knew no one in that house. Or any house for that matter. She just wanted to put distance between herself and the book girl.

"Oh! You are in Ravenclaw!" the girl exclaimed. Saria just looked at her. "Well it was wonderful to meet you. If you ever need anything, I am in Gryffindor, so do not hesitate to come find me. I am Hermione by the way." she said.

"Saria. And yeah, I will keep that in mind," she said, turning her back to Hermione. She rolled her eyes drastically and scrunched up her nose in a frustrated sort of manner, walking away.

"Bye!" she heard Hermione call over her shoulder.

But now what? She had virtually no where to go from here. She stopped as some smaller kids darted past her, wearing the Gryffindor House colors, and then shrank back against a nearby wall. She could always just sit at a table and tell everyone she had just had a spell go wrong, and she was really one of their friends. Yeah…maybe she could do that. All's she would have to do is go to the hospital wing and…

Her thoughts were interrupted when the headmaster of the school had appeared before her. Her mind suddenly went blank, but she didn't let any emotion show on her face. She merely looked up at him.

"Saria Henderson, I presume?" he asked. She nodded at him.

"We met earlier this summer, did we not?" he continued. And she nodded again. His blue eyes twinkled merrily behind his half moon glasses. She was curious as to why he actually seemed happy to see her. She figured it was just an act though, like almost everything she did was. It was how people worked, and she had never found someone who had been up front and honest with her. Why should this man be any different? "But, my dear girl, I do believe it is time for you to figure out how you will be fitting in at this school." His voice had fallen to a whisper just loud enough for her to hear. Her eyes widened, and her insides burned with curiosity and excitement. Finally, she was going to get some clarity!

"If you would be so kind as to follow me," the headmaster said, turning away from her and walking into the incoming crowd of students. She quickly started following him and weaved around the oncoming people trying to keep him in sight. She followed him out into the empty entrance hall, and was surprised how quickly he was moving for such an elderly man.

She scowled as he moved through the many corridors and doorways the school had, and became more and more frustrated the further they went into the castle. "How long was it going to take?" She was just about to say something when they came to a statue. The headmaster...Dumbledore she thought his name was...leaned foward and spoke to the statue.

"Licorice Wand," and she watched in amazement as a staircase started to appear right in front of her eyes. Then the headmaster turned to face her for the first time since they left the Great Hall, his eyes sparkling. "Please follow me up."


End file.
